No Foresight

September 11, 1986

One purpose of government is to act as a third party when rights of the first party conflict with rights of the second party. In that role, Longwood has failed, especially along State Road 434; the latest example being still another denuding of ground for a shopping center.

No, land fronting a busy four-lane highway is not suitable for residential development, and without buying it, residents who had enjoyed it as a buffer had no right to expect the land to remain au naturel. Yes, the owner of land has the right, within reason, to develop it.

But to nuke it?

That is what the narrow strip of land separating Harbor Isles subdivision from the highway looked like this week as crews prepared to build a shopping center there.

Now city hall conveniently washes its hands of responsibility, saying the project's site plan was approved in October of last year, a month before passage of an arbor ordinance, which would have saved some trees. But that will not wash. Site plan approval is just that: A time to agree on details in the best interest of the community.

Even assuming an arbor ordinance were paramount to the conflict, it was not as though the city had not felt the spur to pass one earlier. Twice last year there were roars of indignation after land along that same highway was cleared for commercial development, ironically, both times for nurseries.

The problem is more basic than a lack of ordinances: It is simply a lack of planning. S.R. 434, its curbs with so many openings they resemble a loaf of sliced bread, is just one legacy to that failure.

Unfortunately, Longwood City Hall has not been blessed with the foresight necessary for it to play a city's essential third-party role.